Northwestern Edges Illini, EIU Downs SIUE

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Trent Frazier missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have won the game for Illinois, but it hit the back of the iron giving Northwestern a 68-66 win Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Freshman Ayo Dosunmu had 18 points and graduate transfer Adonis De La Rosa added 12 to lead the Fighting Illini.

Northwestern's A.J. Turner hit a 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds left to give Northwestern the 68-66 lead.

Vic Law had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Northwestern (10-5, 1-3). Northwestern won last season's meeting 72-68 in overtime, while the Illini have dominated the overall series 134-42.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili gave Illinois a 66-65 lead on a follow basket with 1:31 to play. After each team had a scoreless possession, Northwestern got the ball back with 34.5 seconds to go. Turner missed a wild 3-point attempt with just under 20 seconds left, but Dererk Pardon grabbed the rebound and threw it back out to Turner for the game-winning basket.

Following a slow start offensively, Northwestern received a lift when freshman Ryan Greer entered the game at point guard seven minutes into the game. The Wildcats rallied for a 24-16 lead with five minutes left before halftime and seemingly had taken control.

But Illinois, after going scoreless for more than four minutes, closed the first half with a 15-1 run to take a 31-25 lead at the intermission.

Law had just two points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first half. He finished 4 for 12 from the field with six turnovers.

Illinois stretched its lead to eight points early in the second half before Northwestern rallied to tie the score at 42 on a 3-point play by Anthony Gaines with 13 minutes to go. Two minutes later, Law hit a pair of free throws to put the Wildcats back on top, 45-43.

The game stayed tight the rest of the way.

UP NEXT: Illinois (4-11, 0-4) hosts No. 2 Michigan on Thursday night.

ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES

TEAM NOTES

• Illinois is 134-42 all-time against Northwestern.

• Illinois held Northwestern without a field goal for the final 5:02 of the first half and the first 3:29 of the second half, totaling 8:31 straight minutes.

• Illinois was 22-27 from the free-throw line, the Illini's second most made free throws this season (23 vs. Ohio State 12/5/18).

• Illinois did not make a three-pointer (0-11) for the first time since going 0-10 against Tulsa 11/29/2008.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Dosunmu is averaging 19.7 points per game in the last three games.

• Sophomore guard Da'Monte Williams made a career-high eight free throws and totaled 10 points, one off his career high of 11 he last achieved against Georgetown 11/13/2018.

• Senior center Adonis De La Rosa scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

EIU 84, SIUE 81

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men’s basketball won its second straight overtime contest as the Panthers opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 2-0 record after an 84-81 win over SIUE on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.

EIU improved to 9-6 overall, 2-0 in the OVC as the Panthers are now 4-0 in overtime games this season.  SIUE fell to 5-9 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.

The Cougars held the lead for most of the first half building a 37-30 advantage at the break converting eight EIU turnovers into 12 points.  In the second half and overtime session, SIUE could only produce eight points off of nine EIU turnovers.

Brandon Jackson was an efficient 6-of-9 from the floor in the first half scoring from several areas of the floor. Jackson had 13 of his game high 26 points in the opening half going 11-of-16 for the game.

Rade Kukobat would give EIU its second lead of the game draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 11:41 to play in regulation as the Panthers pulled in front 48-47.   EIU would eventually push its second half lead to six points on a Ben Harvey jumper with 6:56 to play, EIU leading 59-53.

SIUE would regain the lead with 1:49 to play on a lay-up by Tyresse Williford.  EIU would get four free throws from Josiah Wallace in the final 1:25 to account for its final points.  Cameron Williams had a three point play to score for SIUE.  The Panthers had a chance to win the game in regulation as Harvey’s jumper from the corner came off the back rim.

In overtime Wallace opened the EIU scoring with a lay-up and then a 3-pointer with 4:14 left to play.  On the 3-pointer, a technical foul was assessed to SIUE on the rebound giving EIU free throws and the ball.  It proved to be a five point swing that SIUE could not overcome.  EIU would push the overtime lead to as many as seven points on a lay-up by Aboubacar Diallo with 56 seconds left.

Wallace was EIU’s leading scorer with 24 points going 6-of-6 from the foul line.   Shareef Smith added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.  Diallo had six points, five rebounds and five blocks.

Williford had 15 points and 11 assists for SIUE.  Williams added 18 points.

SIUE Women 65, SIUE 56

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The SIUE Cougars dominated the glass 54-26 leading to 21 second chance points and a 65-56 win over over Eastern Illinois women's basketball. The Panthers fall to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the OVC. SIUE improves to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in the OVC.

Both teams shot over 40 percent from the field in the first half keeping up with each other offensively. Grace McRae scored all of her 10 points before halftime to lead EIU, while Micah Jones had a quick nine points and six boards for the Cougars.

The Panthers fought the Cougars nine point lead into the third quarter and tied the game 36-36 on a free throw from Taylor Steele. A quick 7-0 run by SIUE would give them the lead for the remainder of the game.

The dominance on the boards led to two double-doubles off the bench for the Cougars. Jay'nee Alston scored 12 points and recorded 11 rebounds, while Jones added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Allie Troeckler finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Nakiah Bell also scored double-figures for SIUE with 11 points.

Karle Pace led all-scorers with 15 points and recorded her 11th consecutive game in double-figures. She was 6-of-8 from the foul line and recorded four rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Grace Lennox and McRae both added 10 points. Lennox also had four rebounds and five assists, while McRae had six boards.

The Panthers will be back in action with a pair of road games next week. Up first is Jacksonville State on Thursday Jan. 10 at 5:15 pm.